


Now I Do

by Mrs_Monaghan



Series: Pleasing My Readers (prompts) [45]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Always, Bartender Ian, Business Owner Mickey, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Jealousy, M/M, Oblivious Ian, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-16 08:17:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10567308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Monaghan/pseuds/Mrs_Monaghan
Summary: schenlark said:Mickey has been crashing on Ian and has been trying to get his attention but Ian's been oblivious or not taking Mickey seriously until someone points out that Mickey has been flriting the whole time. Ian, without really knowing Mickey well, pegged him bad news or negatively & said NO. Mickey was crushed bc Ian was being judgemental. Months later, Ian saw Mickey dating another guy and was surprised to find him so loving & thought maybe he judged too fast





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [schenlark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/schenlark/gifts).



> Hey gal, thanks for being so supportive of my writing. hope i came through for you!!  
> #enjoy

“Would you stop that?” Ian chuckles pushing his friend away. “It tickles.” He manages to push Mickey away who was nibbling at his rib. He doesn’t even know how they managed to get in this position.

Mickey laughs and pulls back. “You fucking started it with your stupid tickling war!”

Ian huffs and gets up so he can go to Mickey's kitchen. “Beer?”

“Please.” Mickey replies.

“Don’t you have to go to work yet?” Ian hands Mickey his beer and sits next to him on the couch.

Mickey looks at his watch. “In thirty minutes. Shit.” He places the can on the table and rushes into his bedroom leaving a laughing Ian in his wake. “You're so lucky you don’t have to work.” Mickey calls from his room.

“Yeah. I'm so lucky to be jobless.” Ian says dryly checking his phone for messages.

Mickey comes out in a rush already wearing his apron and Ian laughs. “Fuck off.” Mickey snaps playfully as he searches around for his keys. “You sure you don’t wanna work at the garage?” Mickey asks for the umpteenth time. He's the co-owner of a garage and since Ian lost his bartending job he has been offering him a position there but the latter keeps turning him down.

“Already told you, I like looking at cars, I like driving them. I don’t wanna…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Have fun lounging around at my apartment bored out of your fucking mind then.”

“Doesn’t being the boss mean you don’t have to wear that?” he points at the navy blue apron even though he has to admit Mickey pulls off the look.

Mickey shrugs. “I like it. Plus ‘snot like I’m walking there so, is all good.” Ian hums and goes back to checking his phone. Mickey fidgets in place and licks his lips nervously looking at Ian. “So umm,” he clears his throat. “want me to bring you something on my way back?” Ian looks up at him his expression quizzical. “To eat.” Mickey clarifies. “Or we could hit that bar you like, with the chicken wings?”

Ian exhales and leans back on the couch his arm behind his head. “Okay.”

“Okay to what? Bringing you food or going out?”

Ian shrugs. Any can do really. He doesn’t really care.

Mickey sighs in exasperation –though Ian doesn’t notice- and walks towards the door. “See you later then?”

Ian grins at him reaching for his unfinished beer. “Yeah.”

Mickey nods and walks out. He forgoes the lift so he can use the stairs instead. Ian is so frustrating at times. Scratch that, all the time. How can the ginger not see how gone Mickey is on him? It has been four months since they met and became friends and Mickey's feelings for the other man have only intensified. He admits, they don’t know each other well enough for Ian to pick up on any of Mickey's tales, but still it’s really exhausting having feelings for a person who can’t see it.

Mickey is not good at expressing himself. Never has been. So he's not going to tell Ian point blank. Also there's the possibility he could get rejected and he would rather not.

Better safe than sorry.

 

                                                                   ********

 

Ian downs the beer and continues to flip through channels. He looks around Mickey's place and thinks maybe he should leave. They’ve only been friends for about four months and Ian is already so free with the other man. He shows up without calling ahead, he drinks and eats Mickey's shit without asking, they joke around like they’ve known each other forever. To date it baffles him just how comfortable they’ve gotten with each other.

Ian and Mickey met at the bar Ian was tending at the time. The bar he just got fired from because he stopped fucking his boss.  Mickey had come from work feeling as exhausted as he looked at the time and Ian had refused to give him his order and fixed him something else instead. They had started talking and Ian had managed to cheer up the other man by the end of the night. After that Mickey had come back the next night too and here they were. He doesn’t know if they’ve known each other long enough to be classified as best friends but they were pretty close.

They joked around like they were best friends, they talked and hanged out like they were, so it's wasn't an unlikely possibility. Ian liked Mickey and enjoyed being in his presence. It was good. But maybe he should head home to the apartment he shares with Lip. Pulling out his phone, he shoots a text to Mickey thanking him for dinner but he was heading home instead.

 

                                                                   ********

 

Mickey is under the hood of a Toyota land cruiser when his phone chimes with a text. Getting off from under the car, he wipes off his hands and checks his phone.

**Heading home, dinner some other time?**

With a heavy disappointed sigh Mickey shoots back, **sure**. Before pocketing his phone and getting back to work.

All this pining and wanting and needing and crushing on Ian from a far was going to be the end of Mickey. He wonders if there's a way to let Ian know he likes him without being too obvious. Or coming off as desperate. Because Mickey is far from desperate. Tomorrow is Saturday, and Mickey doesn’t work on weekends seeing as he's part boss and everything. So he pulls his phone back out.

**You going out tonight?**

**No, gonna chill @ home with Lip, y?**

**Could bring over JD and some weed. Don’t feel like going out either.**

**Sounds good. Can't wait! :)**

Mickey huffs a laugh when he sees the smiley Ian sends with the text. He is such a fucking dock. But it's what Mickey loves about him. This time when he gets back to work it's with a happy smile and an extra beat to his heart. It's honestly pathetic how much Ian's validation matters even though the latter isn’t aware of just how much impact he has on Mickey.

 

                                                                   ********

 

“Can't believe you're staying home on a Friday night.” Ian drops on the recliner shirtless with just his sweats on and places his feet on their coffee table. “What, no hearts to break tonight?” he teases his brother with a smirk.

Lip gives him the finger and gestures at his chest. “You really think that’s how you want Mickey to find you?”

Ian glances at his chest and then back at Lip confused. “What the hell does that mean?”

Lip shrugs and pulls out a cigarette instead. Ian looks at his chest again then back at his brother. Shaking his head, he grabs his phone. Lip could be so fucking weird sometimes. They're on their forth beers by the time Mickey walks through the door.

“Sup fuckers…” he trails off when he looks at Ian. Lip laughs while Mickey places everything on the table before rushing into the kitchen.

“Mick, you okay?” Ian asks loudly.

“Yeah! I'll be right there!” Mickey replies just as loud.

Ian frowns at Lip then shrugs. “You two are the weirdest people I know.”

“And you’re the stupidest man to ever walk the face of the earth.”

“Stupidest? Really Lip? Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”

Lip laughs again and peaks at the kitchen even though you can't see inside the kitchen from the living room. “I _am_ the smart one and I'm telling you, that’s a word.” He says pointedly. “And even if it wasn’t, my point still stands.” Ian flips him off and reaches for the weed so he can start rolling the joints.

  *****

Mickey stays in the kitchen for a few minutes and takes a few breaths. He was definitely taken by surprise. He did not expect that at all. A shirtless Ian was a sight to see and Mickey had not expected that would be the first thing he sees when he got here. Those pink perky nipples, that hard masculine chest, those abs. _Good God_ those abs. “Fuck.”  Mickey needed to get it together before the brothers figured it out. So he squeezes his half chub, gathers his composure and removes three glasses from the cupboard then the ice cubes from the freezer. He then, with a big smile heads back to the living room and situates himself on the carpet.

“You okay?” Ian asks frowning, concerned.

Mickey looks up at his friend and he's so sincerely worried and this is the kind of shit that gets to Mickey. Glancing at Ian's chest once before quickly diverting his eyes, he nods. “Yeah. Just really needed some water. My throat was too fucking dry man.

Ian chuckles with a relieved smile. He then puts the rolled joint in his mouth and shuts his eyes as he takes a deep drag. Mickey swallows as he watches Ian's chest rise and fall and he just wants to run his hand through that chest hair. It's however too late when he remembers Lip is in the room. Because when turns to look at the other Gallagher he finds the smug asshole smirking knowingly. Mickey flips him off and pours himself a glass of the whiskey.

Lip slaps Ian hard on his arm and the redhead chokes on the smoke in his mouth. “What the fuck Lip?!” Ian asks before handing Mickey the stick and jumping on his brother. They roughhouse for a little bit before Ian pulls back still glaring at his brother. “You're a fucking asshole.”

“I don’t fucking care. Go put on a fucking shirt!”

“What the fuck’s your issue with my being shirtless?”

“Get!” Lip commands pointing at Ian's room.

The red head sneers but gets up anyway. “It ain’t my fault that you refuse to go to the gym with me.” He complains. “Asshole.” He adds for good measure.

“You're welcome.” Lip tells Mickey pouring himself a drink.

“The fuck for?” Mickey scowls at him his heart racing.

“He's not here relax. Unlike my brother I know you wanna bone him.” Mickey's scowl turns into a glare. Lip snorts. “What? I'm I wrong? Because you’re not settle. Which is why I have no clue why he hasn’t picked up on it.” he takes a sip of the whiskey. "Fucking red headed idiot."

Before Mickey can say anything however -like deny-  Ian is back wearing a loose grey shirt which makes Mickey relieved and disappointed at the time.

  *****

After that the three of them drink and chat and it's fun just like any other time they’ve done this. At some point Mickey doesn’t remember, Ian joined him on the floor and the three of them are laughing at something Mickey can't remember either. But it must have been really funny if they're still laughing.

Ian finishes with a heavy sigh and throws a hand across Mickey's shoulders. “Oh Mickey. You, are, amazing. I swear.” He sits even closer and pulls Mickey towards so he can sniff his hair. “You have been so nice to me. Always so nice to me. I love you.” he says and Mickey's eyes go wide his mouth dropping open in shock. Ian must catch the look because he quickly lets go of him. “As a friend! As a good friend. As a _great_ friend.”

“Jesus Christ.” Lip groans from the other end where he's now lying fully on the couch smoking a cigarette.

Mickey on the other hand is trying his best to let go of the pain in his chest. Even though it's not rejection, it feels a lot like it. “Yeah?” Ian asks and Mickey sniffs then nods.

“Yeah. Love you too.” _Slightly more than just a great friend but it's whatever._

Ian claps and reaches for the bottle that’s almost finished. “Yes! Today is great. Thank you for coming Mick. You’re amazing.”

“You said that already.”

“And I'll keep saying it ‘cause I mean it.” He then smiles cheekily and Mickey knows they're about to have a tickle war.

“Ian, don’t.”

“Huh? Huh?” Ian teases coming closer and closer towards Mickey. “Ha!” Ian shouts before straddling him and going for Mickey's weak points.

Great, drunk Ian, and sober Ian are still the same.

 

                                                                   ********

 

When Mickey wakes up there's something poking him in the back. _Oh_. It's right there, right there by his clothed crack. Lip is not in the living room and now it's Mickey and Ian on the couch. Ian is spooning him. fucking spooning him and God only knows how long they’ve been like this. Now it's the next day, the room bright and Ian's hard on is poking him in the ass. Mickey looks at the freckled arm wrapped around him and bites his bottom lip. He then risks it and pushes back against Ian's cock experimentally.

Ian moans.

Mickey curses internally then does it again. Ian moans only louder. When Mickey does it again Ian wakes up. “Mickeeeey.” He whines sleepily.

“Umm?”

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering Mickey does it again. Ian lifts his head fully, awake. Why was Mickey messing with him? Ian is not blind, Mickey has like the best ass he has ever come across. And now he's pushing it against his dick? That’s just cruel. He turns Mickey's head so he's looking at him. “Stop it.”

Mickey swallows and licks his lips. “Why?”

“What?” Ian asks frowning slightly.

“We don’t… we don’t have to stop. We can just…”

Ian laughs. “Mick come on, I'm too hangover for you to be messing with me right now.” He crawls over Mickey with his long limbs and gets off the couch. “It's not even April fools man, what are you doing?” Ian laughs again and walks towards the kitchen. “Fuck I'm thirsty.”

 

                                                                   ********

Sunday night was Ian's night to cook. Mickey had already left because he had work tomorrow so it was just him and Lip now. He hands his brother his plate and sits on the opposite chair.

“So?” Lip asks.

“So what?”

“So did you and Mickey finally fuck?” Lip asks with his mouth full.

Ian drops his spoon as lets it clatter on the table so he can glare at his brother. “Why would me and Mickey fuck?”

Lip shrugs. “’Cause the guy’s in love with you.”

Ian laughs and shakes his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Lip stops eating too. “Think about it Ian.” Ian continues to stare at him confused because what Lip is suggesting is absurd. “Why do you think I made you put your shirt on last night?”

“Don’t know. ‘Cause you’re an asshole?”

Lip rolls his eyes. “Mickey couldn’t stop staring at your fucking chest and practically salivating. I wasn’t about to watch that for the rest of the fucking night.”

“Bullshit.”

Lip stares at him challengingly and Ian racks his mind to see if Lip is onto something. There was that one time Mickey had kissed him and Ian had kissed back but they were drunk and they're just friends. And it wasn't even a kiss really, it was just a drunk brush of lips. Ian barely remembers it. It hadn’t meant anything. Then there's the fact that the day they met Mickey had confessed he doesn’t go three days without dick and yet he hasn’t fucked anyone in the last four months. But that has to be a coincidence. He thinks about how after they're done tickling each other Mickey's hands linger and Ian lets him. Then this morning when Mickey was rubbing his ass against Ian's hardness.

“Holy shit.”

Lip sighs and taps the side of his head before going back to his food.

“Holy shit.” Ian repeats. “Maybe lust though, not love. It can't be love.”

“Whatever you say.”

 _Shit_.

Ian deserts his food and heads into his room to get dressed.

 

                                                                   ********

 

Mickey is lying in his bed feeling dejected and rejected and undesirable and miserable and all those other things that make you want to fall into a hole and never crawl out again. He is so fucking embarrassed. What had he been thinking propositioning Ian like that? Fuck! Mickey hated himself so much at this moment.

What made matters worse was the fact that Ian had thought he was joking and will probably call tomorrow asking to hang out.

Fuck!

He gets out of bed and goes to the living room. He's just going to watch an older movie if there's nothing new on Netflix. He's fucking tired, but can't sleep so he's just going to stay on for the rest of the night. He is still busy hating himself when there's  a knock on the door.

“Ian?”

“Hey Mick.”

Mickey looks at Ian and can't help but notice he looks nervous. Extremely nervous. This scares Mickey. “You want to come in?”

Ian shakes his head. “No. I just… I wanna know something.”

Mickey crosses his arms and looks at his feet. “Yeah?”

Ian scratches the back of his head. “This morning when you suggested we…” he clears his throat. “we…”

“I know what I fucking said Ian, I was there. What about it?” Mickey asks impatiently.

“Were you serious?”

Mickey looks into the beautiful green eyes feeling slightly irritated. “What do you think?”

“Shit Mick we can't.” Ian says softly. “We can't.”

“Why?”

“Because… so many reasons Mickey!”

“Like what?”

“We are friends for starters. Aren’t you afraid for ruining that just for a good fuck?”

Mickey wants more than that though. “Ian that’s not…”

“Have you even ever been in a relationship?”

“What?” Ian quirks and eyebrow. “No I haven’t but that’s…”

“I do relationships Mick. Sex means something to me, I don’t want to just hit and run. That’s not who I am. Well, not anymore.”

“Okay.” Mickey says since Ian won't even let him finish a sentence. “So you’re saying that you don’t think I could _be_ in a relationship?”

“And stay in one? No.” Ian replies honestly.

Fuck that hurts. Is that what Ian had gotten from four months of friendship? “Ian you can't just conclude that shit about me. You don’t know me.”

“Precisely. Another reason why we can't. We don’t know each other that well. Not really. So we get along great, so fucking what? It's not enough.”

Mickey can feel a headache coming on. Before Ian hadn’t outright rejected him but he’s sure as hell doing it now. “So no?”

“I'm sorry Mick. I don’t mean to…”

“No it's fine. It's okay. I want you, you don’t want me, it happens.” Mickey says casually even as he dies inside.

“We’re good though?” Ian wants to know because he doesn’t want to lose his friend at the end of it all.

Mickey nods trying not to let his emotions come though. “Yeah Ian, we’re good. But I kinda need to sleep now. Early day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, of course.” Ian nods. “Goodnight. I'll call you.”

Mickey nods and shuts the door. He can feel his eyes stinging and that’s not a sight he wants Ian seeing. He leans against the door and rubs his eyes. He then sniffs and gets himself together before heading to bed.

 

                                                                   ********

 

_Two Weeks Three Days Later_

 

“What's wrong?” Lip asks when he walks into their apartment. “You didn’t get the job?”

Ian shakes his head staring at his phone. “I did.”

“So?” Lip asks patiently. Ian just sighs heavily. “Ah, Mickey. He still hasn’t called?”

Ian sniffs and throws his phone on the table haphazardly. “Hasn’t called, hasn’t answered. This is why you can’t date friends. It ruins everything! Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe we’d be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah well, what I know is that I lost my friend so…”

Ian rubs a tired hand across his face. It hurts, it really fucking hurts. He can't believe that just because they couldn’t be lovers they can't be friends. He didn’t think Mickey was the type but guess he was wrong. He gets up and goes to shower. He doesn’t want to fuck up his new job and he's barely started.

*****

Ian is busy wiping the counter when a new customer takes a seat. “What can I getcha?”

“Jack and coke?”

Ian quickly looks up when he hears Mickey's voice. “Mickey.”

“The one and only.”

Ian snorts. “Really? The one and only?” Mickey nods, smirking. Ian's smile dies. “Where you been?” he gets Mickey's drink to avoid his eyes.

“Around.” Ian nods. “Just needed some time. This asshole turned me down and I...” Ian looks at him curiously. Mickey traces a pattern on the counter. “I needed sometime. I'm sorry.”

Ian swallows. “No, no it's fine. As long as we can still be friends.”

“’Course we can.”

Ian chuckles with relief and hands the other man his drink. “So what’s been going on in the life of Mickey Milkovich? How did you even find me?”

“Not my fault you keep getting employed at the places I frequent.”

“Right.”

They laugh and chat and Ian feels happier than he has in the last two weeks. They may not be lovers but Mickey is a big part of his life now. He makes his days brighter and he's just glad they can be friends again even after what happened. He kinda needs Mickey in his life to function as this point.  If the last two weeks have taught him anything, it's that.

 

                                                                   ********

 

_Two Months One Week Later_

 

Ian is at his usual post at the bar leaning on the counter when a tall guy with dirty blond hair his height walks over. “Hey.”

“Sup.” Ian greets standing up straight ready to take the order.

“Can I have two beers and a jack and coke for my date please.” Ian smiles to himself as he gets the drinks ready. “What?” the stranger asks.

“Nothing, it's just that that last order reminded me of a friend of mine. He kind of doesn’t drink anything else.”

The guys laughs. “Neither does Mickey.” Ian freezes. “My date.” The guys elaborates before leaning on the counter so he's real close to Ian. “I'm really trying to impress him. He’s this close to letting me define our relationship.” He says with a nod, his thumb and forefinger still showing Ian how _this close_ he is. Ian shuts his eyes and looks past the guy. “I'm Spence by the way.” Spence.

“That’s your date?” Ian points at where Mickey is seated at a table all his attention on his phone.

“Yeah, isn’t he hot?”

Ian clears his throat handing Spence the drinks. “Yeah. Good luck!”

“Thanks. I need it!” Spence calls back heading over to the table.

Mickey looks up and catches Ian staring so he waves. Ian waves back before turning his attention to an incoming customer.

When.

The.

Fuck.

Did Mickey get a fucking boyfriend?! How on earth did Ian miss this? Did Mickey keep it from him? No, that’s not possible. Spence hasn’t been around for too long if he's hoping to be Mickey's boyfriend. So what they have has to be new. But still, this isn’t their first date. Mickey has been going on dates. Mickey is dating. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Ian feels like he highly misjudged the other man.

He realizes he jumped into conclusions, that day, that night he went over to Mickey's. He never asked what Mickey wanted. Ian automatically assumed it was the sex. What if Mickey is perfect boyfriend material and Ian threw that away? And now he will never know because he's clearly too late.

 

                                                                   ********

 

Days, weeks pass by with Mickey dating this Spence person. And they seem… happy. At least to Ian they look happy. Ian has to say he never ceases to be surprised when he's over at Mickey’s when Spence is around and his friend will let Spence kiss him on the mouth goodbye. Or when Mickey threw Spence a mini-birthday party at the bar even though they’ve barely been dating for a month. Or when Ian will ask Mickey about Spence and he will get more than just a one word answer.

Watching them interact, watching Mickey with _Spence_ leaves a bitter taste in Ian's mouth.

How could Ian have been so fucking stupid? Why did he have to be so fucking judgmental? Why did he have to run his fucking mouth like that? Mature people let others talk. Maybe if he’d let Mickey talk that day he would have found out that Mickey _was_ looking for a relationship. And Ian would have given them a chance.

If he knew at the time that Mickey wanted more than just sex from him, Ian loves the other man so yeah he would have been willing to find out if there could be something between them.

*****

Time goes by and Ian can't take it anymore. Watching Mickey and _Spence_ be happy, makes him unhappy.  He has realized he's jealous. He's extremely jealous of their relationship, of _Spence_. He wants to be in his shoes. He wants to be the one kissing Mickey goodbye. He wants to be the one sleeping beside Mickey. These thoughts don’t surprise him. They're not new. Not at all. Ian has always thought he and Mickey would be perfect together, he just didn’t know Mickey would agree to actually _be_ in a relationship. And now he had screwed up, the chance had passed him by and he has to watch Mickey be happy with someone else.

Jealously is the fucking worst! It makes several of his body parts ache. His stomach, his head, his chest he just can't take it anymore!

So just like Mickey had done that one time, Ian decides to distance himself from the couple and the man he's come to consider his best friend.

Of course he only manages to avoid Mickey for six days before the other man corners him at his and Lip’s apartment.

“You're avoiding me.” Mickey states as soon as he's through the threshold.

“Who me?” Ian lets out the fakest of laughs. “Why the fuck would I do that?” he walks further into the house and goes back to sit by the kitchen counter where he was drinking a beer trying not to think about _Spence_ ontop of Mickey. Now the subject of his thoughts was here and there's nothing Ian can do about it.

“You need to tell me. Did I do something I'm unaware of?” Mickey asks concerned because he can't remember doing anything to Ian and the redhead’s absence in his life is kind of hard to miss. Makes him feel incomplete.

“No. You didn’t. And I am not avoiding you Mick. So stop saying that.”

Mickey stares at Ian for a while, who's looking everywhere but at him and that’s how he knows the taller man is lying. He takes the next stool and they sit there in silence. “Did Spence do something?”

That gets Ian to look at Mickey. “No.”

“Then talk to me Ian! I need my best friend, alright? You can't be fucking off and not telling me why.”

Ian stares at the nails of his left hand. Demn, when did they get this long? It’s not sanitary. Especially since he feels like baking today.

“Ian!”

“Jesus Christ Mickey! I'm right fucking here!”

“Then fucking act like it!”

“I don’t like seeing you and fucking Spence together, alright?!”

Mickey blinks a few times and swallows because, “What?” he says, barely above a whisper.

Ian sighs and drinks his entire beer so he can face his best friend. “Mick.”

Mickey gets off the stool so he can pace around the kitchen. “You turned me down. _You_ rejected me. I came on to you and you told me we couldn’t fucking be together. Didn’t even beat around the bush on that one.”

“I know.”

“You…”

“I didn’t say we couldn’t be together. I said we couldn’t fuck.” Mickey glares at him confused. “I thought that’s all you wanted from me Mick.”

Mickey scratches at his hair. “You can't do this to me Ian. Not now.”

“I know. I'm awful.”

“You waited until I started seeing someone? Why would you do that Ian?"

"I don't know."

"What if Spence had never come along, then what?”

“I. Don’t. Know.”

Mickey comes and stands in front of Ian, almost getting between his legs but not quite. “You didn’t want me before.”

“And now I do." Ian sighs. "Like I said, I'm awful.”

“Fuck.” Mickey curses overwhelmed. Ian stands and moves closer so they're chest to chest. “Don’t do this Ian.” Mickey says looking from Ian's lips to his eyes.

“I'm sorry I rejected you before. I'm sorry I never gave you a chance to explain. But I want you, I love you.” he says this while placing a hand on Mickey's cheek and the latter inhales deeply before exhaling with a visible shiver.

Fuck, this is all he's wanted from Ian before he got tired of waiting. Spence is a nice guy. He can't just…

Mickey doesn’t finish that thought process because Ian presses their lips together. Mickey moans as he gets even more overwhelmed. As soon as he parts his lips Ian slots their lips together and Mickey's knees go weak. Fuck, kissing Ian is all he has wanted for ages. This right here, is what he’s been craving for the longest time. He grabs onto Ian's waist and sucks on Ian's tongue when the redhead pushes it past his lips. Ian lifts him and places him on the counter so they can continue making out.

“Shit.”

Ian moans against his lips before tilting his head and kissing him deeper, sweeter, making everything in Mickey's body tingle. Mickey has wanted this for so long he tries not to sob. He has to stop though. It takes everything he has to push him away.

"What? What?" Ian asks urgently when Mickey pulls away.

Mickey caresses his hard muscles. "Gotta break up with Spence before we do anything."

Ian nods and steps back, suddenly remembering there's someone else in the equation. "Yeah, yeah absolutely."

Mickey gets off the counter and smiles up and Ian. "Be right back?"

"Please." He tries to kiss Mickey again but the latter moves his head back. 

"Nah-uh."

Ian laughs. "We already kissed though."

"That was when fucking emotions took over. If we do it again then that's cheating."

"Wow, since when are you..." Ian trails off then smiles happily. "I love that. Yeah, go break up with him first."

Mickey nods with a grin and squeezes Ian's hand before heading towards the door.

Both men breath out heavily as soon as the door closes. Both happy and looking forward to what the future holds. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!  
> catch you here!  
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/684409228412541/
> 
> oh almost forgot, the anon who wanted me to do 'casper the friendly ghost' your prompt was next but unfortunately i cannot find that movie _anywhere_ like at all. i think it might not be available in my country or some shit. tried looking and nothing! even you-tube was no help at all. just a bunch of trailers. i will write this on tumblr too incase you don't see it here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who felt dissatisfied with the first chapter. <3

Mickey drove over to his place in a rush, feeling excited and giddy at what had just transpired. He couldn’t believe that Ian had finally come around. Spence was probably on his way there since they had talked about him coming over. It sucked that Mickey would have to break up with such a nice man, but even as he started dating the other man it wasn’t because he was in love with him.

Sure Spence was funny, sweet and had a big heart, but when Mickey fell for Ian months ago, he fell hard. And he had gotten into a relationship hoping to get over his best friend. Now instead Ian had gotten jealous which in turn made him aware of his feelings for Mickey.

This was honest to God the best day of his life. Period.

Mickey parks his car and gets into his apartment building. Sure enough Spence is waiting outside his door. He smiles widely when he spots Mickey.

“Hey handsome.” The taller man greets planting a kiss on Mickey's cheek.

Mickey nods with a smile of his own before unlocking the door. He walks in and heads straight to the kitchen. “Have a seat, we need to talk.”

“Oh-oh.” Spence jokes even as his laugh comes off as nervous. “The four most dreaded words in any relationship.” Mickey doesn’t reply because he knows the other man is right. He pulls out two beers then joins Spence at the kitchen table. “So what's going on?” Spence asks, peeling the label off the beer bottle instead of drinking it.

Mickey on the other hand downs almost all of his. He has never broken up with anyone before. Shit, he's never been in a relationship before. “So umm… shit.” He clears his throat. “Spence, I really like you. You are such a great fucking guy,”

“But you're breaking up with me.” Spence states sadly his head bowed as he plays with the label he's shredding with his fingers.

“Shit.” Mickey curses again. How did he draw to that conclusion so fast?

“What did I do?” Spence looks up at Mickey. “I thought we were okay. This morning when I left we were fine.”

“We were, we are. It's not something you did.” Mickey runs a hand in his hair guiltily. “You’ve been great.”

“Then why?” Spence takes his hands off the table giving Mickey all his attention.

“I…” Mickey rubs a hand across his bottom lip before continuing. “I am... in love with someone else.” he exhales pent up breath after letting it out. “And I don’t think it's fair to keep dating you when my heart is not…  in it.” He finishes confidently.

Spence nods with a shaky inhale. “It's Ian, isn’t it?”

“What? How did you…”

“He was jealous, of you and me. I could tell. I just thought… I thought his feelings were one-sided I didn’t think that…" he sighs heavily. "I really like you Mickey.”

“And I really like you too, but I can't lead you on like that. It's not fucking right.”

Spence finally grabs his beer and takes a sip. “How long?” Mickey raises a quizzical eyebrow. "Have you had feelings for him."

“A while.” Mickey replies. “A very long while.”

Spence frowns at Mickey thoughtfully. “Longer than we've been dating?” Mickey nods. “So why, why agree to it? Why go out with me at all?” Mickey doesn’t reply but instead chews on his lip nervously. Spence laughs humorlessly which makes Mickey turn to him in surprise. “Let me guess, you told him, and he must have turned you down, but now that he sees us together he's decided he loves you back.” He shakes his head. “Jealousy 101.”

“I'm really sorry.”

Spence shakes his head harder. “You shouldn’t…” he sighs. “He turns you down, and when he feels like it, he says he likes you and you go to him without even a second thought?” Spence licks his lips and grabs both of Mickey's hands that are on the table. “We've got something good going here Mickey. Don’t ruin it for a chance that Ian wants you now. Who's to say he won't wake up tomorrow and decide that no, he's changed his mind? Huh?” he asks earnestly and Mickey swallows. “If he didn’t plan on being with you before I came along…”

“Stop.” Mickey commands, his hands trembling as he pulls them back. “Just stop a’ight?” He pushes the chair back and gets up. “You're right Spence, one hundred fucking percent. And I hate that you are because I am really in love with that man. Which is a fact that won't change anytime soon.” Mickey breathes watching Spence intently. “So whether or not I decide to give Ian a chance, you and I can't be together. I can't be together with anyone really. Not until I've gotten rid of these feelings first.”

Spence nods in understanding before getting up too. “It's such a shame. We would have been great together but i guess the heart...”

"Wants what it wants." Mickey smiles softly. “Thank you.”

“No, thank _you_.” Spence takes a hold of Mickey's left cheek and kisses his right. “Have a nice life Mickey Milkovich.”

Mickey chuckles. “You too.”

He shuts the door behind his now ex and goes back into the kitchen. Spence is right. Ian waited until Mickey was seeing someone before letting his feelings known. And Mickey has said yes without a second thought. Who's to say Ian won't change his mind the next day, or next week, or next fucking month? Forbidden fruits are the best. Maybe Mickey was enticing to him because he was taken. Ian might not find him as appealing anymore after they've a few weeks. Now that Mickey's thinking about it, Ian's feelings for him may exist, but his intentions are questionable at best. Which is why when Ian sends a text to ask if everything is okay, Mickey replies with a; **Yeah, we broke up. But I'm beat, so see you tomorrow.**

And when Ian sends a follow up text Mickey doesn’t reply. He needs to sleep on this.

 

                                                                    ********

 

Ian wakes up with a slight back ache. He doesn’t even know at what point he dozed off. Pulling out his phone, he checks for the time with a deep frown.

“Midnight? What the fuck?!” Ian fumbles around in the dark and walks to his bedroom.

He doesn’t understand what happened. Mickey did not only, not come back, but he didn’t reply to his last message. What could possibly have happened between here and his house? Did he change his mind about them being together? Ian doesn’t understand what's happening. If Mickey broke up with Spence then why would he ignore Ian?

Ian gets into bed but is unsuccessful getting any sleep. He turns and turns and turns until he starts to irritate himself. He can't sleep. If he's not thinking about Mickey, he can't seem to get comfortable. But it's mostly thinking about Mickey that’s keeping him up. Why didn’t Mickey come back? Why was his text message so cold? What the fuck happened?

Ian gets out of bed and goes into his closet. He changes from sweats to jeans, a navy blue checked shirt, and heads into Lip’s room. He doesn’t have a car so Lip’s will have to do. He walks in and shakes his brother roughly by the shoulder. Fuck him, is Ian can't sleep then neither should he.

“What!” Lip snaps too loudly for a guy who was asleep seconds before.

“I need your keys.”

“What the fuck for?”

“I can't sleep.”

“So you wanna drive?”

“Maybe. Give them to me.”

Lip groans. “They're on the kitchen counter.”

“Thank you.”

“At least fucking search for them next time instead of waking me up at,” Lip check his phone. “Two thirty? Jesus Christ Ian. Fuck off.”

Ian just shakes his head and heads to the kitchen. Without a second thought, he walks out and drives straight to Mickey's. His best friend is grumpier than his brother. Ian already fears for his life. When he gets there he uses his key and quietly walks in. He toes off his shoes before tippy toeing to Mickey's bedroom.

He stands there to look at the other man who is sleeping soundly on his stomach, one arm under the pillow. The sight leaves a flutter in his stomach. There’s little light, just the moonlight, but Ian can see clearly since Mickey didn’t draw his curtains.

“What are you doing here? It's in the middle of the night?” Mickey asks drowsily.

Ian gets over the surprise of being caught and clears his throat. “Thought you were asleep.”

“I am southside,” Mickey turns around and sleeps on his back. “you think I wouldn’t be able to tell when someone walks into my house?”

Ian starts shedding off his clothes. “Then why didn’t you come running with your baseball bat?”

“’Cause you didn’t fucking break in. What the hell are you doing?” Mickey asks shocked as Ian leaves his t-shirt and boxers on before getting in bed on the other side of Mickey next to the wall. He pulls the blanket back and slides in. “Again I ask, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Getting in bed with you, what does it look like?”

“Ian…”

“I couldn’t sleep okay?” Ian says softly and Mickey takes a deep breath his concerns going out the window. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Mickey sleeps on his side so he's facing the red head who's watching him intently. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Couldn’t stop thinking about you.” Ian replies honestly. “I thought we are going to be together and now you’re silence is too loud and I couldn’t stop wondering if you’d changed your mind.”

They lay there in silence just looking at each other. Ian waiting for Mickey to confirm he's wrong Mickey wondering where to start.

“Okay first of all,” Mickey says. “your feet are too cold, get them the fuck away from me.” Ian ignores him with a smile as he does the exact opposite and tangles their feet together. With a heavy sigh and a roll of his eyes, Mickey continues. “And I didn’t change my mind. I've been in love with you since we met. So no, I did not change my mind about us.” Ian nods, relieved. “But I am scared you might.” He adds quietly his insecurity coming through.

“What?”

“Thing is Ian.” Mickey starts. He didn’t know they would talk things out this soon but Ian is here now so he might as well voice his thoughts. “You only liked me ‘cause I was with someone else.”

“No. Well… yes but…”

“And that’s the thing. Now that you want me, say we start dating.” Ian nods listening intently. “What if I stop being appealing to you because I am all yours? How can I know you like me for me and not just because you saw me with someone else?”

“I know Mickey. I know I shouldn’t have waited so long. Shouldn’t have come between you and Spence. But there's nothing like jealousy to put someone’s feelings into perspective.” Ian finishes breathing deeply. Please give me a chance. Give us, a chance.”

“I don’t know how to trust that you’re in this for good.”

“I know, and it's my fault. I will spend forever making it up to you, just please don’t push me away.” Ian begs scooting closer. He touches Mickey's left cheek with his right palm. The action makes the brunette weak. “I love you.” it's a whisper. It's a promise. And it makes Mickey's breath stutter. “I waited too long. I should have never turned you down, I know that now. But the fact remains, _I love you._ ”

“Ian.” Mickey says weakly.

“Seeing you with Spence may have pushed me into acting on my feelings but it doesn’t mean they didn’t exist before.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We've been friends for a long time now and I've always thought we’d be great together I just wasn’t sure, you know,” he doesn’t want to bring up what he did. “Which was my mistake. I admit that, and I am sorry so please…”

Mickey shuts his eyes and nods. Ian's warm hand is still on his cheek and Mickey really loves this. He wants Ian he wants to be with Ian. He just needed to ensure the red head was in this for the long haul. “I love you too Ian.”

Ian blinks repeatedly his heart clenching with his feelings for the other man. “Can I kiss you?”

“If you promise you’ll stop being such a judgmental idiot.”

“Ouch.” Ian replies with an understanding smile. “I deserved that.”

“Come’ere.” Mickey holds Ian's upper arm and pulls him closer moaning as soon as their lips touch in a kiss that he is slowly getting addicted to.

Ian was an idiot, he can admit that much. But he is willing to prove to Mickey that he's in this. That he's really in this. But right now, he loses himself in this kiss. Loses himself in the beautiful feeling of Mickey's lips against his. He hates that it took him such a long time to realize he's _in love_ with Mickey. But he doesn’t mind making up for time lost.

“I love you.” Ian pulls back to remind him.

Mickey nods with a huge, happy smile before pulling Ian in for another kiss. Soon Ian is ending the kiss and making Mickey face the other way so he can spoon him.

“We need to sleep, you got work in the morning.” Ian says.

 Mickey thinks about the last time they were in this position and what had happened. It's a bad memory but Ian is here right now, on his own accord and he actually wants this. So Mickey gets comfortable and pushes back where they fit perfectly together. Ian kisses the back of his neck before whispering a soft ‘goodnight Mickey’ and he has honestly never been happier than in this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by....  
> catch u on tumblr. Same name. still not taking prompts but no reason we can't chat. tihihihihhi


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